Although the auctioneer’s own company placed the winning bid on the real property, the sale was not “inherently unfair” because the advertising for the auction, the bidding process and the actual bidding were conducted at arm’s length. However, because the ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where Bank of the West violated an automatic stay, sought to collect a deficiency balance after the expiration period and willfully made repeated contact with the debtors despite requests from their counsel to stop, the bank was sanctioned and counsel ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where a claimant did not immediately receive notice of the claim-filing deadline because the debtor provided an incorrect address, but she still had knowledge of the deadline with sufficient time to make a timely filing, her proof of claim filed ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A debtor in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case was unable to recover garnished wages as an avoidable preference even though the wages were turned over to the judgment creditor within the 90-day preference period because the wages were garnished and ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Although the debtor admittedly made false statements and breached a deed of trust, he did not act with the requisite fraudulent intent and therefore the civil judgment is discharged. Background James Young filed a voluntary Chapter 7 petition in this ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

The trustee could not sell the real property, which a debtor owned with his spouse as tenants by the entireties, and use the proceeds to benefit unsecured creditors. Background The debtor claimed an exemption in real property owned as tenants ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where a debtor executed a promissory note on behalf of a company controlled by her daughter and son-in-law and the bank required that the debtor’s then husband execute a deed of trust to create a lien on the couple’s principal ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A debtor who failed on four separate occasions to file a feasible plan will not get a fifth opportunity. Instead, the court held the debtor’s repeated failures, which were based upon unreliable and inaccurate financial projections, were unlikely to be ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. District Court - Western District

The creditor’s heirs in a case involving a company declared bankrupt in 1931 persuaded the court that an assignment agreement entitling another person to distributions was never enforced, and should not be enforced now. Background In 1931, Yellow Poplar Lumber ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A tenant with “slovenly living habits” who knowingly, deliberately and intentionally caused damage to his landlord’s property was not entitled to discharge the majority portion of debt caused by his conduct. Background In Aug. 2013, the debtors signed a one-year ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court